Caridad Sanchez has dementia – daughter reveals

CEBU, Philippines —  Cathy Sanchez Babao once asked her mother, the accomplished actress Caridad Sanchez, what her dream role was.

“Ang gusto ko talaga, yung matanda na malilimutin na, pero paminsan-minsan, may moment na nakakaalala pa siya. Kahit walang bayad, gagawin ko iyang role na iyan,” the screen icon, one of The FREEMAN’s 100 Cebuano Personalities awardees last year, would tell her daughter.

Such was “the irony of life,” Babao opened up in a lengthy Facebook message posted Sept. 17, where she revealed that her mom was diagnosed with dementia in late 2015 – the reason why the 87-year-old has not been active in showbiz for quite some time.

According to the U.S. Alzheimer’s Association website, dementia is a general term for a decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life, while Alzheimer’s is a degenerative brain disease said to be the most common cause of dementia.

“One must really be careful what one wishes for. I don’t know whether I should be grateful that she’s now, unknowingly, portraying the dream role she had hoped for many years ago,” she shared.

Babao told ABS-CBN News in an Oct. 2 interview that Sanchez remains physically strong, but that she is “fading.” A grief educator and counsellor at the Ateneo de Manila University, Babao said she finally decided to disclose her mom’s condition to raise public awareness about dementia.

“I held back writing about her condition because of who she is. But just like how it is with mental health conditions, we add to the stigma if we don’t write or speak up about it. A wise friend who had been on a similar journey told me this: ‘I suggest you write it, still. Your mom’s a well-respected figure. No one will mock her for her dementia. Your revelations about her going through it is sure to benefit more people.’”

In 1998, Babao lost her four-year-old son after going through open heart surgery. She calls the process with her mother similar, yet also different with what she went through then.

“Anticipatory grief. This is what this is all over again. With my son, we had two whole weeks to fight, to hope, to pray that he would get better. And when he did not, we had a few days to accept and to surrender,” she said.

“Alzheimer’s is a different story. The waiting time is measured in years. Your heart shatters into tiny bits as the person you once knew and loved fades away. She’s there, but she’s not all there.”

One of the country’s respected acting veterans, Caridad Yuson Sanchez was born January 1936 in Mandaue City. The youngest of 15 siblings, she first dreamt of becoming a lawyer. But her parents did not see it a suitable profession for a woman, so they encouraged her to be a teacher or a nurse. She would have none of it, and instead pursued acting.

In 1958, she left an already budding acting career in Cebu to follow a boyfriend to Manila who was also aiming for film stardom. He was her leading man in Cebu, and she had heard he was taken in at one of Manila’s film studios. She was certain she would also be signed up, what with their tandem already established in Cebu.

After months of the guy incommunicado, she finally traced him to a restaurant in Escolta where she rushed in excitement to reunite with him. His reaction left her crestfallen: he shooed her away, bidding her to return to Cebu, saying there was no way a non-mestiza like her would make it in the capital’s movie industry.

Humiliated and heartbroken, she almost walked towards a bridge in her dazed state. But her steps were redirected to Quiapo Church where she cried her eyes out before finally looking up to see the statue of the Black Nazarene. It was then she realized that the religious icon was black, but here it was, venerated by millions. She returned to her apartment with a renewed confidence but with a determination to go back to Cebu.

After a few days, a cousin gave her a tour of the Big Three studios – Premiere, Sampaguita and LVN. Alas, it was in LVN that Sanchez would be offered her first contravida role in the film “Malvarosa.” More movies followed and she would never look back.

“It was the pain he caused me that drove me to really do my best. Hindi rin ako nagtanim ng galit, hinayaan ko lang, kahit ang sakit sakit ng ginawa niya sa akin,” Sanchez told her daughter. – VAB